Friday, May 29, 2009

The body of 1st Lt. Leevi Barnard, the N.C. National Guard soldier killed in Baghdad, Iraq, last Thursday, arrived this morning in Mount Airy in preparation for his funeral.Shortly before noon, a brigade of Patriot Guard Riders and several police cars arrived in front of Moody Funeral Services, along with a hearse carrying Barnard's body.About 50 people gathered to await the processional.Evelyn Bowman-Donhehan, a family friend, described Barnard as "a good-hearted country boy.""You don't have to be old to die," she said.

"He was very friendly," friend Jennifer Rodgers, who met Barnard in school, said. "He didn't even know me and let me sit with him on the bus, and I thought that was real sweet, being a new student and all."

Blair's report also has a video option as does WGHP's report which notes that there will be a memorial service tomorrow "from 5 to 8 p.m. at Blue Ridge Elementary School in Ararat, VA. Barnard's funeral is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m."

In the Iraq study group tonight, we were talking about how Memorial Day really didn't register for most people. I think in part due to the economy. Also due to a press that has tremendous apathathy.

So I said that I'd note one of the fallen tonight and just leave it at that. My effort to underscore that the Iraq War continues. That people are still dying.

Maybe, like me, you are opposed to it and are working to end it. Maybe you support the war. Regardless of which position we hold, I would hope we could all agree that the press is ignoring Iraq.

Friday, May 29, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, oil-rich Kirkuk unresolved but money to begin pouring in, al-Sadr surfaces and he's a Prop 8 backer, Steven D. Green and his War Crimes and more.

Winter Soldier Southwest was a great success. There were more than half a dozen camera crews shooting it for purposes ranging from independent media to anti-war documentaries. The panelists were quite moving and the audience was extremely supportive and full of positive energy. We want to thank everyone that helped put the event together, including all the panelists from VVAW, VFP, MFSO and Gold Star Families. Most profoundly moving was the testimony of the Gold Star Families panel. Quite a number of panelists testimonies have found their way onto the internet already, below is a short list of a few links to what's out there

Wednesday we noted Ryan Endicott, Thursday we noted Christopher Gallagher's and today we'll note Devon Read's. In addition, IVAW notes the testimony of this compilation video and this compilation video. Apologies to Sgt Devon Read because there is so much noise during his testimony you'll see numerous "[. . .]". Noise includes people talking, thumping on tables, and other things. The video also has jump cuts. I have inserted a credit into his speech. For too many years, someone's been consistently robbed of her credit. The issue isn't with Devon Read. But it is a big issue with me and we will go into after the bad transcription (by me) of his testimony:

Devon Read: We're going to start off with something written by Maj Gen Smedly Butler, a US marine. He was one of the only a handful of marines awarded the Medal of Honor twice for separate acts of heroism. Most marines learn about his war record during boot camp. One thing we don't learn about is the book he wrote about war [War Is A Racket]. In this book, he wrote, "War is a racket. It always has been. It is probably the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. It is conducted at the expense of the very few for the benefit of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes. How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat infested dug out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle? Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few -- the self-same few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill. And what is this bill? This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations." 9-11 was four weeks after I graduated from the School of Infantry. We were quickly called up to be an anti-terrorism quick reaction force in southern California -- basically perform civilian crowd control in the case of another attack. We also did a lot of ground infantry training. At the end of our one-year activation, we started hearing about a war with Iraq in the news and couldn't believe it. We were completely in denial right up until the day we got extended and deployed for the invasion. We were in denial because we all knew Iraq had no connection to 9-11. But it was 30 years after Vietnam. There were no combat vets left in the military to tell us how horrific war really was. All we had were the glorified version of war in movies. [. . .] My unit's first contact was as we were providing security as the rest of our regiment was moving northward through a very small town. I was in a mortar platoon and we were getting ready to fire on a building that was firing on our combo. [. . .] mortars fire almost three miles, so most of our targets are called in by others and we never see them. So when we started hearing small arms fire very close by it surprised us. I thought it was one of our own guys firing. And then I heard a ricochet in the vehicle I was standing in. Turned out I was being shot at because I was wearing a radio, like an idiot, standing in the bed of a Humvee, a good five feet higher than anyone else. So we all scrambled [. . . -- possibly 'to a burn'] to identify where we were pretty sure the fire was coming from. And tasked a machine gun with taking out a shooter. The machine gun is a thirty pound beast that no one ever wants to carry so of course it gets assigned to the youngest, newest marine in the platoon. So now this 18-year-old kid is told to fire an M "240 Golf" machine gun at a rate of 650 rounds per minute into the window of an adobe building that we're pretty sure is firing at us. No one ever went to check if we were right. Congratulations and machismo abound of course because he "got some." We're traveling down a stretch of road dubbed "The Highway of Death." We'd gotten the word that there would be absolutely no civilians in the area. They'd been evacuated or told to stay [. . inside]. And we believed them. Our convoy would rotate battalions on point so some days we'd be out in front, some days we'd be buried in the middle, and this was one of those days we were in the middle. So someone else was up front seeing targets as they were identified. As the very front was a group of Humvees with Tow Missile on the roof -- a very powerful weapon. We're cruising along when we see a white bus, blown up, smoking on the side of the road. We all assumed it must have been jihadists or something until we pass it and see it's full of families who are trying to escape the town. There's a little girl and her father and she's dragging a suitcase that's blown apart and the clothes are scattered all about. And she's smoldering with her father dead. I'm sure it was a very simple mistake someone made along the way. But the end result was a bus of civilians was blown up. The first day we got into Baghdad, April 8th [jump cut in video] over the course of several hours we blanketed a city block, a few apartment buildings, with our mortar shells. Each with blast radius of thirty meters. We heard later there were dozens of Iraqi casualties. We all knew the civilian body count was high but couldn't spend any time thinking about it. [Jump cut in video.] The point of these three stories is this: War hurts everyone involved. Some people die, some are changed forever. There's really no such thing as a "clean war." Our weapons are designed to kill as many people as possible in as efficient manner as possible [someone whispering over speaker Devon Read "Would you like . . ."] unless they aren't in which case they're designed to maim them so that it will slow down his comrades and his country will be burdened with healing. The disgusting nature of war is very much by design. 18-year-olds run off to some distant land, excited to do their part, excited because of all the heroic stories they've been told, because their leaders told them that a good war story would woo the girls back home. They weren't told about PSTD or IEDs or what it would be like to lose an arm or a leg or both. Since these things are all inherent in war, war is bad, right? I'm still to believe that sometimes it may be necessary. Essentially, it's a collective action problem. If we all collectively agree that war is not necessary and that nations should resolve their problems like adults instead of kindergartners then war wouldn't be necessary but it's like John Lennon [C.I. note: and Yoko Ono] said, "War is over if you want it." But of course we can't all collectively agree on anything right now. It's still collectively kindergartners. And unfortunately, very often, the type of personality it takes to get into a position to rule one nation is the same type of personality that makes one want war and sometimes that leads to dictators invading other nations. This of course is true for Saddam Hussein, a vicious dictator that gassed his own people and invaded sovereign neighbors. And it used to be how I defended the war. I justified the invasion by saying we deposed an evil man. All my friends are very liberal. But they knew not to challenge me about the invasion because I could always win that argument. This happened to me when I finally got out of my unit. I stopped drilling with them every month. Until that point it was necessary for my own well being to be able to believe at least somewhat in the mission because if I got deployed again, what was I going to do? If I was going to have to deploy again and didn't believe in what we were doing, I could get one of my fellow marines killed because I wasn't focused. But once I was out, I was able to re-evaluate the same stories and facts I'd heard a dozen times before, the same memories I had, my own experiences and come to a very different conclusion. For me the jury is still out on whether there is such a thing as just war -- I still don't know. I still believe that doing service for your country is an honorable thing to do. The problem I have now is that I feel our service has been misused for the last 8 years. On average, two percent of the population has the warrior mentality. The kind of individual willing to place his body between his family and war's desolation. Those few are trained to do their duty and what's necessary to protect their loved ones. These are dedicated individuals who can accomplish a great deal, who have a great deal of influence in the world. So wielding them is an important responsibility. And for the system to work properly, one has to assume that those who have the ability to wield that power will do so responsibly. In the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, I do not believe that they did so. In every war there will be civilian casualties. In every war, 18-year-olds will have to shoot blindly to protect his brothers. But when all of the reasons we were given for invading have turned out to either be mistakes or some case flat out lies, it's just wrong. We were told to expect gas attacks at each major city. [. . .] Heavy resistance from the Republican Guard but none of that ever happened. Once foreign passports started to be found, we were told that Syrians and Iranians were training and fighting with Saddam's Ba'athists and it was further evidence they were obviously fostering terrorism that was responsible for 9-11. But we know that's not the case. The truth is that al Qaeda didn't go to Iraq until we started a war there. I used to justify the continuing occupation by claiming that leaving now would only destabilize Iraq further and that it would collapse into civil war. The problem is, as I said earlier, war hurts everyone involved. It decimates infrastructure, shatters families, steals the future of each person that is killed and forever damages the participants and witnesses alike. War should be truly the last resort. We began this war because of misinformation and false pretenses. There are no reasons the war should continue when the reasons given pale in comparison to the wave of causalities that are inherent in war. Knowing what we know now, the only responsible course of action is to withdraw from Iraq.I have candidate Obama's Iraq platform here, from 2008. I'd like to read two things. I'd like to read two things. One is a quote from 2002, "What I am opposed to is a dumb war. A war based not on reason but on passion. Not on principle but on politics." He even provided some of his plans to end the war. The first step was, "Immediately begin to pull out troops engaged in combat operations at a pace of one to two brigades every month to be completed by the end of next year." Referring to this year of course. We know immediate withdrawal is the answer. What happened to him? We elected candidate Obama because of his plan to end the war. President Obama, however, seems to have other plans. We collectively need to stop justifying the continuing occupations. Excuses and catch phrases like "It's better to fight them over there than to fight them over here" are ridiculous and inflammatory. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died. As of today, 4285 Americans and over 100,000 Americans are estimated to have been injured. We know that these wars are unjust, that they must be stopped. And the time is now.

I added the Yoko Ono songwriting credit. The denial of her credit has been going on for years and years. (I'm not referring to Devon Read. Devon Read's a young man. He's not a professional journalist. I'm talking about the journalists who have deliberately denied Yoko her credit. And, yes, I know Yoko but it's not about that.) Want to piss me off? Deny a writer their credit. Want to piss me off even more? Deny a woman her writing credit.

Click here for credit on the song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (and recorded by both of them together).

It's not a minor point. When Matthew Rothschild was still flirting with revealing his piggish nature to the country (he'd expose himself fully in 2008), he denied Yoko her earned credit. The Nation did the same. (And both were called out for it here.) I'm not in the mood. I wasn't in the mood when drugged out loser John Phillips tried to commandeer sole credit for "California Dreamin'" -- the same drugged out loser who STOLE credit on Hedy West's classic "500 Miles" and had to be called on that repeatedly before he would finally cop to the fact that he didn't write or co-write the song. I'm not in the mood. I don't play with that topic. We always try to credit writers here and not just say "The New York Times." Even the writers I ridicule here get their names mentioned. I take credit very seriously and I take efforts to deny credit and to specifically deny women their credit very seriously. I'm not talking about Devon Read who made an honest mistake as a result of years and years of efforts to deny Yoko co-songwriting credit (on a song she also sings on). I'm talking about 'journalists' like Matthew Rothschild who repeatedly deny Yoko her credit, I'm talking about the journalists launching their revisionary "John Phillips wrote 'California Dreamin' all by himself" -- (yeah, cause he lived it, right? He was the California Girl, right? Spare me the damn bulls**t). The original credit was John Phillips and Michelle Gilliam then updated to John and Michelle Phillips. The only thing more astounding than his ego was how willing the press was to join in rewriting history. And I'm talking about Danny Goldberg writing -- in a BOOK -- that Lindsey Buckingham wrote the Fleetwood Mac hit "Don't Stop." Christine McVie wrote that song. All by herself. I'm getting damn tired of women being stripped of their credit and when Danny can do that, and when a book publisher can put it into print, it shows how little respect there is for women's accomplishments. It's not -- and has never been -- a minor point with me.

The need to erase women's accomplishments, their lives, their roles in battle? That's the same need that drives the silences on crimes against women. And that's how we transition to Abeer.

May 7th, former US soldier Steven D. Green was found guilty on all counts for his role in the Iraq War Crimes from March 12, 2006, when Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi was gang-raped and murdered, her five-year-old sister was murdered and both of her parents were murdered. May 21st, the federal jury deadlocked on the death penalty and instead kicking in sentence to life in prison. September 4th, Green is scheduled to stand before US District Judge Thomas B. Russell for sentencing. Yesterday, Green appeared in court as the family of Abeer gave their statements before leaving to return to Iraq. WHAS11 (text and video) reported on yesterday's court proceedings:Gary Roedemeier: Crimes were horrific. A band of soldiers convicted of planning an attack against an Iraqi girl and her family.Melissa Swan: The only soldier tried in civilian court is Steven Green. The Fort Campbell soldier was in federal court in Loussivell this morning, facing the victims' family and WHAS's Renee Murphy was in that courtroom this morning. She joins us live with the information and also more on that heart wrenching scene of when these family members faced the man who killed their family.Renee Murphy: I mean, they came face to face with the killer. Once again, the only thing different about this time was that they were able to speak with him and they had an exchange of dialogue and the family is here from Iraq and they got to ask Steven Green all the questions they wanted answered. They looked each other in the eye. Green appeared calm and casual in court. The victims' family, though, outraged, emotional and distraught. Now cameras were not allowed in the courtroom so we can't show video of today's hearing but here's an account of what happened. [Video begins] This is a cousin of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl raped and killed by Steven Green. He and other family members in this SUV were able to confront Green in federal court this morning. Their words were stinging and came from sheer grief. Former Fort Campbell soldier Steven Green was convicted of killing an Iraqi mother, father and their young daughter. He then raped their 14-year-old daughter, shot her in the head and set her body on fire. Today the victim's family was able to give an impact statement at the federal court house the young sons of the victims asked Green why he killed their father. an aunt told the court that "wounds are still eating at our heart" and probably the most compelling statements were from the girls' grandmother who sobbed from the stand and demanded an explanation from Green. Green apologized to the family saying that he did evil things but he is not an evil person. He says that he was drunk the night of the crimes in 2006 and he was following the orders of his commanding officers. In his statement, Green said if it would bring these people back to life I would do everything I could to make them execute me. His statement goes on to say, "Before I went to Iraq, I never thought I would intentionally kill a civilian. When I was in Iraq, something happened to me that I can only explain by saying I lost my mind. I stopped seeing Iraqis as good and bad, as men, women and children. I started seeing them all as one, and evil, and less than human." Green didn't act alone. His codefendants were court-martialed and received lesser sentences. Green will be formally sentenced to life in prison in September. [End of videotape.] The answers that Green gave were not good enough for some of the family members. at one point today, the grandmother of the young girls who were killed left the podium and started walking towards Green as he sat at the defendant's table shouting "Why!" She was forcibly then escorted to the back of the court room by US Marshalls. She then fell to the ground and buried her face in her hands and began to cry again. The family pleaded with the court for the death sentence for Green. but you can see Green's entire statement to the court on our website whas11.com and coming up tonight at six o'clock, we're going to hear from Green's attorneys. Like WKLY's reports by Hailee Lampert (here and here -- both are text and video), Murphy makes no mention of the grandmother lunging. Nor do any of the reports filed by the AP on yesterday's court room proceedings (click here for one example). Andrew Wolfson is still maintaining that the grandmother "lunged" at Green in his latest piece at the Courier-Journal. Now let's review one more time. A photo of Abeer's sister is shown to the court. After the jury fails to sentence Green to death (meaning he instead gets life in prison), that photo pops up in the Courier-Journal (last Friday) in Wolfson's story and is identified as a photo of Abeer (bottom right hand corner, note there is still no correction). The AP then grabs the photo, stamps "copyright AP" on it and distributes it around the world as a photo of Abeer. It was not a photo of Abeer. I have two people now telling me that Andrew Wolfson was informed of that, including when he requested a copy of the photo. This follows Wolfson's creative reporting (after not being present in the court room) during the trial where he maintained the defense was arguing that the jury hadn't been to Iraq so they couldn't judge Green. As noted here in real time, that would have been something because the judge had issued an order before even opening statements were made stating that would not take place. Marisa Ford had introduced the motion and the judge was responding (in agreement) to her motion. Here's what Wolfson 'reported' May 8th: "The human-rights minister for Iraq attended the first day of trial April 27 but didn't sit through the rest of the trial and wasn't present for verdicts. Green's attorneys had argued that it was unfair to try him in a civilian court, before civilian jurous who could never understand what he went through in an area of Iraq that was so dangerous that soldiers called it the Triangle of Death. Scott Wendelsdorf, another of Green's attorneys, told the jury . . ." Green's attorneys did not make that argument to the jury and were forbidden from doing so by the judge. From the April 21st snapshot, before the trial started, here is the judge ruling on prosecutor Marisa Ford's motion:

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on the United States' Motion in Limine. The Court having considered the Motion, and the Court being otherwise sufficiently advised, IT IS ORDERED that: The defendant is prohibited from eleciting, offering, or commenting on the following evidence during the guilt phase of trial: 1. Evidence or argument that the United States could have, or should have, prosecuted the defendant under the Uniform Code of Military Justice; 2. Evidence or argument concerning the resonableness, wisdom, fairness, or consequences of prosecuting the defendant under Federal criminal law instead of under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 3. Evidence concerning the defendant's desire and willingness to be tried under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and his efforts to reenlist in the Army for that purpose; 4. Evidence concering differences or similarities between Federal criminal law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including with respect to available charges, criminal penalities, sentencing, and eligibility of parole; and 5. Evidence or argument that only individuals who are in the military or who have military experience, and not civilians, can or should evaluate the defendant's conduct.

Is there some confusion over the above because it's fairly straight forward. Andrew Wolfson who has had serious problems with his reporting on this case and he is the only reporter claiming that the grandmother "lunged" at Green. Translation, she probably didn't lunge at him. At Gulf News, Dr. Mohammad Akef Jamal observes:

The US occupation has its ways of protecting its soldiers. It also has its philosophers and godfathers, and it is only natural that they will try to protect the force's image. However, it is unnatural for Iraqis who returned to Iraq with the invasion forces and who benefited from the change there to join the occupiers in misleading public opinion and hiding facts and truths. Some of these people have, however, set out to justify some of the more egregious American behaviour. This group of Iraqis has called the highly professional torture carried out in Abu Ghraib 'mistreatment', while referring to other crimes, such as murder, as 'mistakes'. Although these people are extremely eloquent in their defence of the US troops' conduct in Iraq, they have chosen to remain silent on the rapes committed by Americans, which have been exposed by humanitarian groups and committees in Iraq.In its 2005 report, Human Rights Watch commented on the issue, while Britain's The Guardian newspaper ran an interview with an Iraqi on the subject.The silence was broken when the news of the horrific Mahmoudiya incident came out. A poor Iraqi family had fallen prey to four US soldiers. The crime was clear, and was premeditated and unprovoked. The soldiers spent a week preparing for it. The family's relatives testified later that Abeer was constantly complaining that the American soldiers at the checkpoint near her father's field, where she worked, were always hitting on her. The incident shook Iraqis and the government was forced to act. Left with no other option, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki asked the Americans to withdraw protection from the four soldiers and allow the Iraqi courts to handle the case against them. The request was rejected by US Deputy Foreign Secretary William Burns.

Bombings?

Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report a Baquba motorcycle bombing which claimed the life of Sahwa leader Khazaal al Samarrai and wounded six more people (four were Sahwa -- "Awakening," "Sons Of Iraq"), a Baquba bus stop bombing which claimed 1 life and left three people wounded, a Baquba sticky bombing which claimed 6 lives, a Baquba home bombing (the home was of internal refugees who had been repairing it with the hopes of moving back) and a Kirkuk roadside bombing targeting Maj Gen Abdul Ameer al-Zaidi's convoy which wounded "several guards".

Today the US military announced: "CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, TIKRIT, Iraq -- A Coalition forces Soldier died after a grenade detonated near a patrol in Ninewa province, May 29. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense. The names of service members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official website at http://www.defenselink.mil/. The announcements are made on the website no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's primary next of kin." The announcement brings to 4304 the number of US service members killed in the Iraq War and the number killed in this month so far to 22.

Meanwhile Timothy Williams and Suadad al-Salhy (New York Times) report on the oil-rich Kirkuk and how the refusal to resolve the issue creates more problems. Kirkuk was supposed to have been put to a referendum. That has not taken place. Despite the referendum being written into the country's Constitution. Now the central government in Baghdad is on the verge of selling off drilling and exploration rights to a region that they may not, in fact, have a right to sell off. The oil-rich Kirkuk is disputed territory. The Kurdish region says Kirkuk belongs to them, the central government says it doesn't. This is not a new issue. It is an issue that has not been resolved. And resolving after monies have been made and contracts signed isn't democracy, isn't freedom, but it may well turn out to be colonialism. Kirkuk was not only an issue in the Constitution, resolving the issue was a White House benchmark in 2007 and 2008 and, presumably, remains one today. UPI notes the conflict between the Kurd's contracts and Bagdhad's contracts and that "the flood of contractors to northern Iraq may inflame political disputes over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk." Daniel Graeber (UPI) reports that KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has stated Baghdad's centeral goernment "lacks the politcal will to move on resolving the outstanding issues with the Kurdish government".

In other focal points, Naomi Klein's BFF Moqtada al-Sadr is back in the news today. AFP reports al-Sadr has issued orders that the LGBT community in Iraq be "eradicated" for "depravity" according to his spokesmodel Sheikh Wadea al-Atabi. He wants to 'teach' the end of gay. Big words for a man wearing the equivalent of a mumu in public. A forever increasingly larger mumu. You know, al-Sadr, they say food obsession in some males is due to latent homosexuality. Maybe al-Sadr should be eradicated? Jessica Green (UK's Pink News) covers the story. In the US, Jessie L. Bonner (AP) reports on Lt Col Victor Fehrenbach's hope that Barack will follow through on his promise to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell and do so before Bonner's military career is ended: "The winner of nine air medals for distinguished service in flight, including one for heroism the night U.S. forces captured Baghdad International Airport in 2003, Fehrenbach is in the process of getting kicked out of the military a year after an acquaintance told his bosses he was gay." As racist Robert Gibbs has made clear in White House press briefings, ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not a pressing issue for Barack Obama. Earlier this month, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network issued the following:FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 19, 2009 CONTACT: Kevin Nix, Communications Director (202) 621-5402 - office; (202) 251-5553 - cell Active-Duty Combat Aviator Booted from Military Soon to Lose Career and Millions in Retirement under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" WASHINGTON, DC - The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) has learned that Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach was recently notified he will be separated from the US Air Force under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Fehrenbach served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He flew the longest combat sorties in his squadron's history, destroying Taliban and Al Qaeda targets in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. And after the Sept. 11 attacks, Fehrenbach was hand-picked to protect the airspace over Washington, D.C. "What an utter waste of talent," said Aubrey Sarvis, SLDN Executive Director. "The Colonel has a sterling combat record, does a fantastic job for his country every day and has all the medals and job performance evaluations to prove it. He did not disrupt unit cohesion or good order. But the bottom line is he's gay, so he's out." Some are urging President Obama to issue an executive order under his national security umbrella to put a moratorium on DADT. "If SLDN thought that would work on all fronts, for all service members, we would be all for it. We need a real, lasting fix for our service members. Congress owns DADT and only they can repeal it," Sarvis said. "What we need is Congress and this new President to engage each other immediately and with a sense of urgency to stop this madness." SLDN has developed a discharge ticker that tracks how many service members have been fired under DADT since President Obama and Congress were sworn in earlier this year. Lieutenant Colonel Fehrenbach's awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, nine Air Medals (including one for Heroism), the Aerial Achievement Medal, five Air Force Commendation Medals and the Navy Commendation Medal. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) is a national, non-profit legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Click here to read the original article.TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing tonight on most PBS stations (check local listings):What will jobs of the future look like? Many studying that question are seeing green - green jobs. And with President Obama promising to create 5 million "green-collar" jobs over the next 10 years, some are predicting that new career paths in energy efficiency and clean power will transform the American economy.This week, NOW on PBS talks with environmental activist Van Jones, founder of "Green for All," an environmental group dedicated to bringing green jobs to the disadvantaged. In March, Jones was appointed as special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Now that he has the President's ear, will Jones be creating a new career frontier for America? This week on Washington Week, there are not three male guests and only one female guest . . . due to the fact that Gwen's reduced the number of guests from four to three. So there are two men and one woman: Peter Baker (NYT), Joan Biskupic (USA Today) and James Kitfield (National Journal). Bonnie Erbe sits down with stress eating Kim Gandy, Elenor Holmes Norton, Tara Setmayer and Leah Durant. This is Gandy and Holmes Norton's first joint-appearance since the two declared war on all pregnant women who are not married -- including same-sex couples not allowed to marry. It should be interesting to see what the 'film critics' have to offer this week. Expect Kim Gandy to be as big as a truck. It's been a very stressful week for her, nibble, nibble. The four discuss the week's news with Bonnie on PBS' To The Contrary. Check local listings. Bill Moyers Journal begins airing tonight on most PBS stations and Moyers and Michael Winship note:

If we want to know what torture is, and what it does to human beings, we have to look at it squarely, without flinching. That's just what a powerful and important film, seen by far too few Americans, does. Torturing Democracy was written and produced by one of America's outstanding documentary reporters, Sherry Jones. (Excerpts from the film are being shown on the current edition of Bill Moyers Journal on PBS - check local listings, or go to the program's website at PBS.org/Moyers, where you can be linked to the entire, 90-minute documentary.) A longtime colleague, Sherry Jones and the film were honored this week with the prestigious RFK Journalism Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. Torturing Democracy was cited for its "meticulous reporting," and described as "the definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history." Unfortunately, as events demonstrate, the story is not yet history; the early chapters aren't even closed. Torture still is being defended as a matter of national security, although by law it is a war crime, with those who authorized and executed it liable for prosecution as war criminals. The war on terror sparked impatience with the rule of law - and fostered the belief within our government that the commander-in-chief had the right to ignore it. Torturing Democracy begins at 9/11 and recounts how the Bush White House and the Pentagon decided to make coercive detention and abusive interrogation the official U.S. policy on the war on terror. In sometimes graphic detail, the documentary describes the experiences of several of the men who held in custody, including Shafiq Rasul, Moazzam Begg and Bisher al-Rawi, all of whom eventually were released. Charges never were filed against them and no reason was ever given for their years in custody.

Phyllis Pollack: "Volunteers Of America," can you talk about that, the song "Volunteers?" Grace Slick: "Volunteers Of America" actually doesn't mean anything. It was something Marty Balin, lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane, and Paul Kantner put together. Now Paul is very political, Marty isn't. Marty writes love songs. That's one of the things I liked about the group. We had several different forums. Mine was kind of sarcastic social humor. Paul is spaceman political, Marty wrote love songs, and Jack and Jorma were blues. So it's like a smorgasbord. You get one of our records, and it's all different s**t. "Volunteers Of Americas" was a print on the side of a truck that Marty saw. He was looking out the window, and a truck went by. It said "Volunteers Of America" on it. I believe it's something like Salvation Army. I don't know what it is, but it's a Salvation Army type deal. But he liked that. He ran it around his head, "Volunteers Of America. That's interesting." So he had the repeated line, "Volunteers Of America," and Paul put more political s**t into the lyric. So it isn't as deep as everybody thinks it is (laughs). It's something Marty saw on a truck (laughs).

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Ryan Endicott: I knew my time had come as I laughed, I ran. This was everything I had hoped for, my chance to kill. I didn't care how or who but someone was going to die today. [. . .] From that moment forward, our efforts became much more intense. We began getting "intelligence" -- quote unquote -- of suspected terrorists safe houses, weapons caches. We would gear up, blare our death metal and pump each other up comparing body counts, telling each other, "It's only a matter of time before we get another." We knew every way to walk right around the line of engagement. The rules of engagement? What a joke. To us grunts, rules of engagement were not rules at all but merely words on a piece of paper, somewhere printed, for the sole purpose of protecting officers if we grunts actually got caught. Try to imagine yourself tonight as you sleep warm in your bed with your wife, your children in the next room. Two a.m. and your door is kicked in and men are screaming. As they kick open your bedroom door, they're screaming a language you don't understand. They're pointing machine guns at your face as they drag you by your hair from your bed, slamming your face down to the ground, putting their boots on the back of your neck and smashing your face further into the concrete floor. Your struggle to protect your family and your home is futile as you are blindfolded and handcuffed so tight you lose feeling in your hands within minutes. All you know is you can hear your screaming wife and children crying for help and you are too useless to protect them. You were not on a list of suspected terrorists. You were not on a list of known terrorists. In fact, you completely supported the US coming into your country and promising freedom, prosperity. You were simply a man in a house on a street that my platoon decided to search. When your blindfold is finally released, the men left your home, it's destroyed. Your wife and children are huddled in a corner defenseless and crying. Every drawer in your home is thrown. The contents broken, soiled. Your bed has been urinated on. Your wife's panties are glued to the wall. Maybe a family heirloom is missing or other objects stolen. The floor is wet with fresh chewing tobacco spit. And you vainly try to tell your family it will be okay and never happen again but, in your heart you know all the while, your chances are it probably will. As time continued to pass, my ego grew stronger and my hate boiled within my veins. A scene like this was nothing more than a Tuesday to me. I laughed as I heard a story. One of the platoons had strapped dead bodies to the hoods of their Humvees and drove around the city for hours blasting death metal music as they terrorized the population. Just another Tuesday to me.Back on post, there was a time when somehow, some way, an Iraqi had managed to get himself lost and ended up knocking on the door to my post which happened to be next to our sleeping area. As I answered the door and I saw the Iraqi standing there, I accepted my fate and I jumped on top of him. I accepted he was a suicide bomber and I had seen my last day as I began to punch him. Brutally I sat on top of him punching him as hard as I could. After a moment I got him under control and handcuffed him. He was simply a man who had just gotten lost. I was punished harshly not for my actions, not for harming an unarmed civilian, but for not killing him. I was told he should have been killed for being there and I would have been protected. I was forced to burn feces, stand hours at an additional post and physically punished. I was ostracized and called a "wuss" and a "girl" for not killing him. I had lost all the respect that I had gained and that I had killed for to earn. I was forced to stand six hours at post at a time directly behind an air conditioning unit with all the heat blasting out of the back side onto my face in the middle of the summer in one of the hottest places on the earth. I stood that post 12 hours a day, four days a week for over a month.The man that arose from that month was someone I hoped to never meet again. The last bit of humanity and morality I had left was gone. I laughed as marines told me they'd just shot this guy in the head and saw his head explode. Just another Tuesday to me.One Tuesday they brought a car that had just been shot up. The driver's fully intact brain was sitting in the back seat. And, to the looks of it, the passenger's brains were all over the car. I walked over to the body bag with the passenger in it -- the bag was still twitching. And we could hear his body still attempting to breathe. Even though his brains were clearly all over the car. We laughed as we stomped him. Just another Tuesday to me.These are just some of the Tuesdays that fill a seven day calendar.I was given a medium machine gun and unlimited ammo and told to spend a couple of hours per post down at a post that was usually unmanned. It had extended view and less observers that could see what I was doing while I was down there. It was expressed to me that I was now a shooter and was being placed down there to shoot. "Don't worry. We have your back. Make sure your combat reports are rock solid and we'll take care of you. You saw two guys with weapons and one ran off." Rules of engagement may change like the tides of the ocean or the winds of a hurricane but people don't come back from the dead. Sometimes, from one hour to the next, the rules of engagement would change. At ten a.m. someone with a shovel on a certain street would be killed and at ten-thirty he shouldn't be killed. You can change the rule but you can't bring that person back to life. And when you can't bring him back to life, you tell me that I just murdered him. After returning from the war, I began drinking, not caring. I had an attitude that ruled my life where I didn't care if I lived, if I died, where I went or what I did. As the mental brainwashing and numbing that the Marine Corps had given me dissipated, the only way to substitute that numbing was through alcohol. I started to think back to the people I shot and the lives that I ruined through my hatred and violence and sometimes it was just too much for me to handle. This war has not only taken the lives of countless Iraqis -- men, women and children, but it has destroyed how many? Who knows? Countless American lives have been destroyed. American veterans. People who joined to serve their country and be American heroes. Many vets feel there's just no one out there who can help them and end up on the street homeless with nothing or sometimes worse. Veterans are attempting and committing suicide at an unprecedented rate. That's for a reason. What's worse? To die for no reason or to live a life of violence and destruction, internal structure and hatred every single day for no reason? To live every day knowing that everything that was instilled in me from the moment I was born as a free American boy, all the morals and everything that was taught to me, I gave away -- at the moment I pulled the trigger for acceptance, the moment that I beat another human being half to death simply to feel like the heroes that I held with such regard.I know today that I cannot mend the things that I have broken. Or fix the lives that I have destroyed. But maybe with my testimony today, I can help one person, they might help two people who can eventually help four. And they'd be all of us together, standing united in preventing these atrocities from ever happening again.

I wanted to post yesterday but didn't have the time. The above was transcribed by C.I. for yesterday's snapshot. Iraq Veterans Against the War did a Winter Soldier in Pasadena earlier this month. Ryan Endicott was one of the people who spoke. C.I. notes another today and plans to note a third in tomorrow's snapshot. I want to be sure that all three are included, so I'm opening with Ryan Endicott.

Community wide, we covered the 2008 Winter Soldier. But that streamed online and was also carried on the radio. I only heard about this one afterwards and it didn't stream live. But the IVAW site has links to some videos.

I marvel at C.I.'s ability to transcribe because it's difficult to hear in parts on some videos and there's a lot of background noise. (So warning if you listen with headphones and pump up the volume to hear better, you may get a loud slam in the middle, like someone just entered or walked out of the room.) C.I. listens once. I know because it's the same as with any radio program C.I. doesn't catch (except NPR, with NPR, a friend at NPR usually provides a working transcript for C.I.). So what happens is an electrical guru/genius who records everything generally catches this stuff. C.I. will call up and ask, "Have you got ___?" If so, the guy begins playing it. At a fast speed. Not double but close to it. And C.I. says, "Got it, thank you."

Then C.I. usually types it up and it's copied and pasted into the snapshot later when C.I. dictates the snapshot.

We're going to call that a post. This was one of those days where I really felt like the grandmother of a very young child. I just could not pull together the energy. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it's my age. But it was a day. (Not a bad day. And my granddaughter was great. I'm just saying that I was lagging all through the day.)

Thursday, May 28, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, Steven D. Green is back in court, Abeer's family does not accept his prepared words, Cindy Sheehan is censored on YouTube, Iraq's LGBT community is still under assault and more.

Winter Soldier Southwest was a great success. There were more than half a dozen camera crews shooting it for purposes ranging from independent media to anti-war documentaries. The panelists were quite moving and the audience was extremely supportive and full of positive energy. We want to thank everyone that helped put the event together, including all the panelists from VVAW, VFP, MFSO and Gold Star Families. Most profoundly moving was the testimony of the Gold Star Families panel. Quite a number of panelists testimonies have found their way onto the internet already, below is a short list of a few links to what's out there

Christopher Gallagher: My unit was 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines. I joined the Marine Corps right at 9-11out of patriotism and love for my country. I was part of the invasion force and two tours following that. While sitting around in Kuwait in early 2003, we were told to write a final letter to our families and put it on [. . .] sea bags that were to be left behind and then sent to your family if you died in Iraq. This is a picture of the letter I wrote. Many of the troops, including myself, were sent to Iraq with inadequate armor. I drove a Hummer into Iraq. It had only a plastic canvas for protection while I was driving directly behind armored troop carriers. I was not issued ballistic plates for my flak jacket. Whole battalions of officers were issued ballistic plates along with the line companies. But to the government, I was expendable and did not rate to have such life-saving, personal protection. I vividly remember one night after being up for nearly five days straight I was on a closed parameter roving post outside the commanding operation center when artillery rounds started landing. The next day I found out it was friendly fire. And these rounds were landing only a few hundred yards away -- which if you've ever been around 120 millimeter round, land near you, it's pretty insane. It made me realize how close I had come to death and it made me angry that I didn't have ballistic plates. After my unit had taken Baghdad and helped pull the statue of Saddam Hussein down, there was a short-lived celebration. This brings me to my next issue -- of where an official Defense Department story meets with true reality on the ground. On April 14, 2003, Cpl Jason Mileo of India Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines was murdered by a Force Recon Sniper. Cpl Mileo had apparently taken off his helmet and was smoking a cigarette at night with his rifle next to him and was mistaken for an insurgent. I had been providing security at night along with several others of my platoon on that roof. For several nights prior to Force Recon relieving us and I had not noticed anything significant to report in that time. There was nothing out there. I hadn't seen anything. And as soon as Force Recon had taken over, I was hearing shots coming from the roof constantly and it made me wonder what the hell were they shooting at? Then the night of April 14, 2003, my company gunnery sergeant had called from the roof and was raising hell. That's when I found out one of the marines from India Company had been shot by one of the cowboys from Force Recon. On my third tour, I had been on the government issued computer and found the investigation case file for the incident on a military web server. The report went on to say that the platoon commander and the sergeant had been derelict in their duty. They failed to do proper, routine patrol overlay and negated to send in a position report to let the battalion know where they were at. To my knowledge, no one was reprimanded and some were later promoted. The Defense Department stated that he died from hostile friendly fire and that the incident was under investigation. It was a shocking reminder to everybody about the truth and what really goes on down there compared to what the government is telling you at home. Forced Recon and their tabloid ways proved deadly for my unit once again. April 7, 2005, Lance Cpl Juan Venegas, who was one of the snipers in my unit, was on a mission in Falluja. He was in a hide when a patrol of Force Recon Marines drove up in their Hummers and then, mistaking him for an insurgent, running him over with their vehicles. The official story released by the Defense Department stated that he was involved in a hostile vehicle accident that was under investigation. I don't know about you, but I've never heard of a hostile vehicle accident before. It's a shame that a young man -- through my research -- he wanted to become a boxer and too many lives have been lost that -- you can't take it away from these guys -- they're young men that want to serve their country and this story is just -- it got to me. And I'm going to go back to my second tour in Iraq. I was stationed at a dam in Haditha. Things were completely different from my first tour. I had seen the presence of contractors doing military jobs such as cooks, truck drivers and security mercenaries like Blackwater. They were doing these jobs and getting paid five times more than I was. At the dam, marines were providing security for the dam below it as were Azerbaijani soldiers who were poorly trained and equipped. They were very trigger happy and shot at and sometimes killed fisherman who got to close to the damn. During that tour it was the first time I noticed the change in the demeanor that the Iraqis had towards us. During the invasion, the streets of Baghdad were filled with people cheering "Bush good, Saddam bad!" In 2004, the Iraqis called protests in the town of Haditha against the occupation. Typical response for this was to have fighter jets fly over the crowd and scare them away. So much for winning the hearts and the minds of the Iraqi people we were supposed to be doing. In January 2005, I was stationed in Falluja about three hundred yards from the bridge where the Blackwater contractors bodies were hung in April 2004. We were relieving a marine infantry unit that had fought during the heavy fighting in the city carrying out Operation Phantom Fury. I was the radio operator for an 81 millimeter mortar platoon and our task was to run a checkpoint outside Falluja making sure that no insurgents return to Falluja. During the transition, I met a few young marines who were reservists from an artillery unit. It was there job to clean up all the dead bodies of the insurgents and the foreign fighters after the operation was finished. They had taken all the enemy to a place we called The Potato Factory where the bodies were stripped and checked for identification by CIA agents. So after we got the checkpoint up and running, smoothly, the marines from my platoon were given jobs such as issuing identification to everyone re-entering the city by retinal scanning them and giving them a badge they had to show to get back into the city they were forced from. After they were retinal scanned with the biometric system known as BATS [Biometrics Automated Toolset System], they had to pass in front of a BATS scanner scan that was supposed to scan for heat variation to see if someone was carrying a weapon. This piece of equipment that probably cost more than most Americans homes, didn't work too well in the heat. If the government hasn't noticed, Iraq is in a desert and it's hot most of the year. Now if you look at this picture behind me, you can see it's winter time and there are no leaves on the tree of course it's going to work when it's cold out. The Iraqis were herded like cattle through the checkpoint as if they were animals. If any Iraqis voiced their opinion for the way they were being treated, the Iraqi police we had at our checkpoint would handle the situation by harassing and assaulting them.Looking back on my third tour, it seems Orwellian to me with the CIA involvement and all that Big Brother-esque type of equipment and technology being used to enslave the Iraqis in their own country. I still love my country and I feel that the most patriotic thing we can do is to let the world know that US imperialism is wrong. And I finish today by saying something that I've heard a million times and I've said myself: You can't bring democracy through the barrel of a gun.

The apology or 'apology' did not go over well with Hajia al-Janabi (Abeer's aunt). Andrew Wolfson (Courier-Journal) reports she denounced Green "as a coward, a criminal and a 'stigma on the United States'," attempted to approach him and was "restrained by a half-dozen court security officers." Wolfson notes that Mahdi al-Janabi then went back to the witness stand to express, "We do not accept your apology at all." WKLY has text and video:

Ann Bowdan: An outburst in federal court after relatives of an Iraqi family killed by a Kentucky-based soldier addressed the suspect for the first time. Steven Green was faced with the death penalty but will receive a life sentence instead. Hailee Lampert was in court today during this morning's and she's live downtown to tell us what happened.

Hailee Lampert: Ann, this was the most emotional, intense court hearing I have ever been to. At one point, the victim's grandmother got so upset she had to be restrained by multiple law enforcement agents who actually began escorting her out of the court room until she literally collapsed on the floor beside the bench where I was sitting. She was literally within arm's reach of me. And she was beside herself. She was that striken with grief.

Hailee Lampert adds that both of Abeer's brothers testified briefly.

Hailee Lampert: And at a certain point, the prosecutor pointed out Steven Green and one of the boys took a moment to look at him. His face remained stoic and cold and he was asked if he had anything to say to the suspect and the boy said "no." Then the man's sister took the stand and said, "I am not honored to look at Steven Green and I don't want to see his face." She said she doesn't understand why Green would would cross all those continents and oceans to come to Iraq and kill her family. She spoke directly to Steven Green, referring to him on multiple occassions as a coward and a criminal without mercy. Then the 14-year-old's grandmother took the stand echoing similar sentiments. Remember for her it was the first time being in the same room as the man convicted of killing her son and his family. Again the prosecutor pointed out Steven Green in the court room and after giving her testimony the elderly woman got up and began approching Green saying she just wanted to get a look at her. But as she began moving closer, law enforcement stepped in and physically held her back until she fell down crying on the ground beside the bench where I was sitting. Now at that point, the judge did allow her to stay in the court once she had calmed down a little but the uncle took the stand as well.

In another report, Hailee Lampert (WLKY -- text and video) quotes the aunt stating, "The wounds are eating my heart. But he has no conscience.." The uncle is quoted stating, "The face of this innocent girl, that face will be chasing you in that dark cell you will be in until the last day of your life. Abir will follow you in your nightmares. On Judgment Day, you will see what your hand has done to us and to your nation."

The decision by the jury for U.S. "soldier" Steven Green is absolutely outrageous ("Sentence for rapist-killer brings Iraqi outrage," Tribune , May 23). A life sentence is unimaginably unjust. The conduct of the U.S. military members involved in this case is as horrific as any act committed by any small group of terrorists. It cannot be condoned; it cannot be tolerated. In essence, we are terrorists. These military members should never have been in Iraq in the first place. I am embarrassed to be a U.S. citizen. I feel anguish for a family that was assaulted, raped and systematically assassinated by U.S. servicemen who scarcely deserve to be called human. Green and his cohorts should be executed. But apparently four murders is not enough. Let us not feel any sorrow for Green, but rather for the members of the Janabi family who were unmercifully slaughtered: a 6-year-old girl; her 14-year-old sister, Abeer Qassim Janabi, who was gang raped and shot in the face by Green with an AK-47; and their parents -- all burned in their home near Baghdad.If this is the price of freedom, who wants it? Tony FratesSalt Lake City

Meanwhile Cindy Sheehan reports she was censored by YouTube. She and Clifford Roddy created a short film entitled finaledit and she posted it to her YouTube page only to have YouTube pull the video down because the realities of war must never be seen, even on the allegedly free speech web. Cindy writes, "I am sorry (sarcasm) that our video 'violated' You Tube's terms of service, but the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan not only violate my terms of service, but international law." Cindy Sheehan's currently on a speaking tour and these are some of the upcoming dates:

Phoenix: June 5th Dallas: June 7th and 8th Waco: June 9th Austin: June 10th and 11th Nashville: June 14-16 St. Petersburg, FL: June 17-18 Philadelphia: June 20-23 NYC: June 24-26 Cape Cod: June 27-29 New Hampshire: June 30 - July 1 San Francisco: July 3 - 5 (Socialist Conference) Cleveland: July 8-9 (National Assembly to end the Iraq War) Pittsburgh: July 11-12 Norfolk, VA: July 15-18 Vashon Island, Washington: July 25-26

In today's New York Times, Timothy Williams' "Bomb Kills G.I. in Baghdad as Attacks Keep Rising" covers multiple topics (including corruption, the pipeline to Turkey, etc.). Williams notes that May -- a month not yet over -- is already the deadliest month for US troops in Iraq since September 2008 when the monthly toll was 25. Aamer Madhani (USA Today) also covers that news and notes, "Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has said that he would be willing to stay longer in hot spots, such as Mosul, if asked by the Iraqi government. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that he expects all U.S. troops to withdraw as scheduled." They will be staying in Baghdad -- a fact Williams forgets in his report today despite the fact that his colleague Rod Nordland already reported on that for the Times. Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

ABC News' Mazin Faiq reports on the targeting of Iraq's LGBT community and notes, "The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs believes as many as 30 people have been killed during the last three months because they were -- or were perceived to be -- gay." ChicagoPride picks up the story, as does UPI which notes an Iraqi soldier stating, "Two young men were killed Thursday. They were sexual deviants," and that's it. The ongoing targeting has NEVER been a segment on Democracy Now! nor has it been a full hour broadcast. What is going on gets no coverage. Reruns is all they have to offer for the Iraq War. Which is why Goody jumped on the gas bag (and will be on it tomorrow again) over an earlier Iraq War story. Duncan Gardham and Paul Cruickshank (Telegraph of London) cover what has everyone chattering this morning about the torture photos Barack Obama refuses to release:At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee.Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube. Another apparently shows a female prisoner having her clothing forcibly removed to expose her breasts. Detail of the content emerged from Major General Antonio Taguba, the former army officer who conducted an inquiry into the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.

Andrew Gray and Ross Colvin (Reuters) report the Pentagon has "attacked the report" and its accuracy and the White House has "strongly denied" the Telegraph of London's report. Racist Robert Gibbs -- whom Barack appointed White House spokesperson in a deliberate slap to all people from and living in India -- played his usual drama queen self, snapping, "Let's just say if I wanted to read a write-up today of how Manchester United fared last night in the Champions League Cup, I might open up a British newspaper. If I was looking for something that bordered on truthful news, I'm not entirely sure it'd be the first stack of clips I picked up." Gibbs is really begging the Telegraph of London to pick up the story GQ buried to protect their Dream Lover Barack. Gibbs will not benefit from that story surfacing.

Yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints, Robert Knight noted that British 'combat' forces left Iraq yesterday (British forces remain in Iraq). Despite the fact that British "combat" troops are out, five hostages remain held. CNN reports that David Miliband, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, is calling for their release. James Sturcke (Guardian of Manchester) adds:Peter Moore, an IT consultant from Lincoln, and four bodyguards were seized in Baghdad by a group of 40 armed men dressed in police uniforms.Moore's stepmother, Pauline Sweeney, said the relatives had been given hope by the release of a video two months ago in which her stepson looked "a lot, lot healthier".Below is David Miliband's statement in full:"It is two years since five British men were abducted from the Finance Ministry in Iraq. I don't think that any of us can imagine their ordeal nor the anguish that their families and friends have had to suffer during this dreadful time. "We have seen the humanitarian appeals that the families of the men have made. I'd like to support this appeal. Our thoughts are with them all as they continue to endure the pain of being separated from their loved ones. "We are totally committed to working for the safe release of the men. There is a dedicated team from across government, including people on the ground in Baghdad, working tirelessly with the Iraqi authorities and Coalition partners to help bring this about. We are grateful to Prime Minister Maliki and all our allies for their support and continue working with them and with anyone who may be able to help. "The Iraq of today is a different place to that of two years ago. There are signs of progress and reconciliation as the Iraqi people show their commitment to a democratic and peaceful future. Hostage-taking has no part in that future. We call on those holding all hostages to release them immediately and unconditionally and return them safely to their families where they belong."Not everyone is thrilled with Miliband. From Peter Dominiczak and Ben Bailey's "David Miliband accused of 'not giving a damn' over British hostages" (This is London):But Mr Miliband's comments were overshadowed by criticism from the father of one of the hostages, who said the Government had failed his son. The hostages, who have not been officially named, are IT consultant Peter Moore and four security guards. Peter's father Graeme Moore, 59, of Leicester, said: "The Foreign Office and the government don't give a damn." In a separate attack, Iraq's national security adviser added to the pressure on Mr Miliband by saying Britain should do more to secure the release of the five men, who have been seen only in videos released following their capture. In an email to The Times, Mowaffak al-Rubaie said: "The families of the hostages should work on the Western governments to be much more proactive in their approach to this."

Personal note breaking in and then back to politics. At Ruth's site "Ruth's off in Japan" and "Barack may be post-racial; however, our society is not" have gone up this week. Those posts and others this week are written by Ann (Cedric's wife). Ruth's in Japan on vacation. She'll be gone for at least two more weeks. Next week, the guest blogging will be done on a rotating basis but Ann's grabbing this week. I mean to note that each morning and never have time. Does it belong in the snapshot? Considering how many things I work in for friends and strangers, I think we can take the time to note Ann guesting for Ruth. Back to the politics.

In No Fool Like An Old Fool, Socialist Grace Lee Boggs -- who didn't and doesn't hide in a political closet -- still managed to make a damn fool of herself in 2008 as she glommed on Barack blindly because 'the kids like him'. When you're over 90 years old, life's not supposed to be about what Dick Clark's spinning on American Bandstand and you're supposed to be the one imparting wisdom. Grace now seems to realize she was played for a fool (actually, she played herself for a fool) but can't bring herself to speak reality except to make a few meek moans about war. Say goodnight, Gracie, no one needs your crap. If you don't have your honesty, you've got nothing. Gracie lies, LIES, and says "gays" are now welcome thanks to Barack. Reality, you old fool, Barack's the reason Proposition 8 passed in California. You can be a fool like Roseanne Barr and blame 'gay leaders'. Roseanne, into nutso land again, echoes Sherry Wolf's ludicrous b.s. Reality, it doesn't matter who was part of the reach out opposing Prop 8 when Barack was part of the reach out on the other side. The media darling allowed his voice to be used to argue against marriage equality in robo calls and he REFUSED to call those robo calls out. He refused. When some group associated with John McCain or in McCain's proximity did this or that, Barry O and his Cult wanted an apology, wanted this and that. But Barry O never did a damn thing to call out homophobes using his words to make their argument. That's why the ban on same-sex marriage passed. Don't lie. Don't cover for the ass. And Barry O's silence? It was just like what we saw in the primaries. "John Edwards is being mean to me! He promised not to do this negative campaigning! He must stop or I will cry and wet my pants." So Edwards pulls the ads and mere days later Barack's doing negative ads on Edwards and won't pull them. WILL NOT PULL THEM. That's how it works in Barry O land. And he better own the fact that he was used to rally people to support homophobia. He better own it the same damn way he better own embracing homophobes and putting them onstage at his events in the primaries and in the general. Barack's not just given homophobia a pass, the asshole's embraced it, he's humped homophobia and come up grinning. He's a damn liar. And Roseanne, you are in nutso territory now. You need to get a grip real damn quick. Here's the first clue for you, that little event you have planned next month? You look like a damn fool and a crazy woman. You're going to be onstage with a woman who claims she was a CIA sex slave -- claims Senator Robert Byrd controlled her -- and, here's the kicker for Roseanne -- claims that among the people she was forced to sexually service was Hillary Clinton. Roseanne, that would be who you endorsed in the Democratic Party primary. (Roseanne then ended up supporting Cynthia McKinney's run for president.) You look like a damn fool. And you sound highly uninformed or, yes, STUPID, on your radio show chattering away about how much you trust this woman (whom you haven't met and whose story you obviously didn't check out) and how great the event's going to be. Grace Lee Boggs and Roseanne Barr, two working hard to be big time fools this week. And, at that, they succeed. No links to Grace, no links to Roseanne when she's being crazy. From crazy to sane. Yesterday, Bob Somerby (Daily Howler) had a strong critique which (unknowingly, I'm sure) was reminiscent of the spirit of the 1970 Women's Strike Day profile of Ben Bradlee by Washington Post's female staff including B.J. Phillips. (That's not an endorsement for the Supreme Court. That's an endoresement of Somerby's strong critique.) [For those unfamiliar with the profile, it was putting Bradlee through the prism the Post put all women through in profiles at that time: did spouse approve of their working, did they have permission, did they have a trim little figure, etc.]

Lastly, this link takes you to NOW on PBS' debate on gay marriage featuring Maggie Gallagher who believes that allowing gays and lesbians to use the same water fountains as straights is quite enough, thank you and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom who supports equality for all. As noted before, disclosure, I know Gavin, I love Gavin, he's wonderful. (PBS asked for that link, not Gavin. If Gavin had asked, it would have gone in Tuesday's snapshot instead of waiting until I could squeeze it in.)